(Circulated
by authority of the Minister for Infrastructure and
Transport,

the
Honourable Anthony Albanese, MP)

COASTAL TRADING (REVITALISING AUSTRALIAN SHIPPING) BILL
2012

OUTLINE

The Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Bill 2012
(the Bill) provides for the regulatory framework for access by
vessels to coastal trading in Australia. It replaces the
regulatory arrangements set out in Part VI of the Navigation Act
1912 (Navigation Act). Part VI of the Navigation Act will
be repealed by the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian
Shipping) (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions)
Bill 2012.

The Bill was referred to two Parliamentary Committee inquiries
- one by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on
Infrastructure and Communications and one by the Senate Standing
Economics Legislation Committee. The House of Representatives
Committee delivered its report on 24 May 2012.

The amendments to the Bill are in response to issues raised by
stakeholders through the Parliamentary inquiries, as well as
addressing other minor and technical matters to correct inadvertent
mistakes, provide consistency between related legislation and
rectify unintended consequences.

FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT

There will be no impact on Commonwealth expenditure from this
Bill.

NOTES ON
CLAUSES

Clause 6
- Definitions

Energy
security situation - An energy
security situation is defined. Subclause 6(1A) provides when an
‘energy security situation’ exists. When an
energy security situation exists, the holder of a temporary licence
may apply for a variation of the licence and such application will
be decided within 24 hours.

Liquid
fuel product - Liquid
fuel product is any of the following:

· biodiesel
- within the meaning of paragraph (a) of the definition of
this term in the Energy Grants (Cleaner Fuels) Scheme Act
2004 ;

A holder
of a temporary licence which uses a vessel used to carry any of the
above products and operating under a temporary licence is eligible
to make an application for an energy security variation which would
be decided urgently within 24 hours.

Owner -
The definition of owner is amended so that an owner of a vessel
means one or more of the following:

(a) a person
who has a legal or beneficial interest in the vessel, other than as
a mortgagee;

(b) a person
with overall general control and management of the
vessel;

(c) a person
who has assumed responsibility for the vessel from a person
referred to in paragraph (a) or (b).

A master
or pilot of the vessel will not be taken to have overall general
control and management of the vessel for purposes of paragraph (b)
and (c) merely because of being a master or pilot.

Clause 28
- Application for temporary licence

Paragraph
2(ea) is inserted in clause 28 to provide that the applicant must
provide the name of the vessel if the vessel is known at the time
of application. This requirement ties-in with the criterion
in clause 34 about an application relating to cargo and a vessel
registered in the Australian International Shipping Register, which
are both owned by the applicant. In order for the applicant
to have the benefit of this consideration, it would be necessary
for the applicant to identify the vessel to be used and indicate
that it is registered in the Australian International Shipping
Register.

Clause 34
- Minister to decide applications

Clause 34
provides for the decision of the Minister on an application for a
temporary licence which is either to grant or refuse such
application. It also provides for the matters which the
Minister would have regard to in deciding the
application.

Paragraph
34(2)(ba) is inserted so that the Minister may also have regard to
whether the applicant is moving its own cargo using a vessel
registered in the Australian International Shipping Register which
the applicant owns.

Paragraph
34(3)(c) is amended so that in deciding whether to grant a
temporary licence where a holder of a general licence nominated for
a voyage specified in the temporary licence application, the
Minister must have regard to whether the vessels of the general
licence holder could carry the passengers or cargo on the expected
loading dates (as specified in the temporary licence application)
or within five days before or after such loading date.

Clause 40
- Conditions imposed on all temporary licences

Clause 40
provides for conditions of a temporary licence. One of these
conditions is that the holder of the licence must comply with what
is authorised by the licence as specified in the licence
itself.

Clause 40
is amended to effectively provide that if a voyage authorised by a
temporary licence is not going to be undertaken, the holder of the
licence must inform the Secretary (or delegate) of that fact and
reasons. It would not be necessary for the holder of the
licence to seek a variation of the licence. If the voyage
authorised was not undertaken and the licence holder has informed
the Secretary (or delegate) of that fact and reasons, there is no
breach of the conditions of the licence for not undertaking the
voyage.

The
amendment to clause 43 effectively provides that if a voyage
authorised was not undertaken and the licence holder has informed
the Secretary (or delegate) of that fact and reasons, there is no
need to seek a variation of the licence.

Paragraph
43(2)(ba) is inserted to provide that if the application (for
variation) relates to an energy security situation, the application
must be accompanied by a statutory declaration giving details of
the special circumstances which justify the expedited
variation.

Subclause
43(3) is also inserted to provide that an application relating to
an energy security situation may be given at any time after
complying with a voyage notification requirement under clause
61. This means that an energy security variation may be made
even if the vessel has been loaded or has commenced the
voyage.

In
relation to other cases (that is, other than an energy security
variation), an application for variation for matters authorised by
a temporary licence may be given only before a voyage notification
under clause 61 has been complied with. This means that once
a voyage notification has been given, no variation for that
particular voyage may be made.

Clause 45
- Consultation on proposed variation

Clause 45
provides that a holder of a general licence and relevant body of
organisation must be informed of any application for a variation
under clause 43 except for an energy security variation.
Because of the special circumstances which require immediate action
by the holder of a temporary licence, an energy security situation
will be processed quickly and urgently within 24 hours from the
time of application. This will enable carriers of liquid fuel
product to respond to urgent situations where there is a threat to
Australia’s energy security.

Clause 46
- Minister to decide an application

Clause 46
is amended to provide that an application relating to an energy
security situation will be decided within 24 hours of receiving the
application. All other types of variation application under
Subdivision C will be decided within 2 business days after the day
the application is made.

Clause 47A
- Application taken to be granted in certain
circumstances

If the
Minister (or delegate) has not decided an application relating to
an energy security situation at the end of the decision-making
period specified in clause 46 (that is, 24 hours from receipt of
the application), the application is taken to be granted and that
the matters specified in the application are taken to be authorised
by the licence.

Clause 61
- Voyage notification requirements for temporary
licences

Clause 61
enumerates the matters which a holder of a temporary licence must
include in a voyage notification to the Minister (or
delegate). This list is amended to include ‘the date of
the voyage’.

Clause 72
- Conditions imposed on all emergency licences

A holder
of an emergency licence is required to comply with the voyage
notification requirements under clause 74A.

Clause 74A
- Voyage notification requirements for emergency
licences

The Bill
as introduced failed to provide for a voyage notification
requirement for a holder of an emergency licence. Clause 74A
is inserted to provide for this requirement.

Clause 75
- Reporting requirements for emergency
licences

An
emergency licence will be issued for a period not more than 30
days. There is no limit to the number of voyages which may be
undertaken under an emergency licence unless the Minister (or
delegate) imposes a limit as a condition of the
licence.

The Bill
as introduced required a holder of an emergency licence to report
after every voyage is undertaken. It is viewed that this
requirement will be onerous.

Clause 75
is amended to require a holder of an emergency licence to give a
report only once, within 10 business days after the end of the
period of validity of an emergency licence.